Memorize the Faith! (and Most Anything Else): Using the Methods of the Great Catholic Medieval Memory Masters
I learned about this book through Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Which led me to this book, with its seeming claim to teach me how to memorize “almost anything.”
The good:
Vost does an excellent job of really explaining the method loci of memorization and giving great examples of how to use it. He walks you through establishing your memory rooms and creating memory “triggers” for virtually anything. His writing style is entertaining and clear. While the majority of his examples are Catholic-oriented, his methods are applicable to anyone. He includes notes for adult readers, as well as younger ones and homeschoolers (in other words, how to make it work for anyone, of almost any age).
The not-so-good:
I read the book hoping for help in memorizing passages, rather than lists. Turns out passages are harder and don’t lend themselves to the method loci as well as lists. Rats.
Despite it not completely helping me with what I wanted, I still really appreciated the great job the book did at detailing specific memorization methods that really are effective. Unless you are adamantly opposed to reading a book with Catholic examples, I think it’s an excellent resource for learning to memorize more efficiently and effectively.
Recommended.
Publisher’s Description:
“They laughed when I said I could name all 27 books of the New Testament …but after I named them all in order, plus the 46 books of the Old Testament, they begged me to show them how I did it.” Yes, I know that memorizing the Faith is no substitute for living a holy life, but even devout people can’t live by truths and precepts they don’t remember. That’s why, over 700 years ago, St. Thomas Aquinas perfected an easy method for his students to memorize most any information, but especially the truths taught by Christ and His Church. As the years passed, our need for this ancient art of memorization grew, yet somehow our culture largely forgot it . . . which is why today, when you and I try to remember a list of things, we have to repeat their names over and over. Or, to remember to call the dentist, we tie a string on our finger. And we clutch at any means whatsoever to recall our passwords for ATMs, credit cards, and voicemail, our login names for Yahoo, eBay, and Amazon, and the host of other names and numbers that clog our minds and clutter our days.Now, thanks to the delightful pages of Memorize the Faith!, you can easily keep all these in mind – and learn the Faith! – by tapping into the power of the classical memory system that helped St. Thomas become the Church’s preeminent theologian, and made it easier for him to become one of its greatest saints. Here, Catholic scholar Kevin Vost makes available again Aquinas’s easy-to-learn method – the method Dr. Vost himself has used for decades to recall names, dates, phone numbers, the first dozen digits of pi (3.141592653589) and even whether, when his wife called him at work today, she asked him to bring home ice cream and toffee . . . or was it truffles and coffee? Indeed, Dr. Vost will teach you to remember virtually anything, but he devotes most of his book to showing you how to improve your memory of Catholic truths so you can live the Faith better. By the time you finish this book, you will have memorized dozens of key teachings of the Church, along with hundreds of precepts, traditions, theological terms, Scripture verses, and other elements of the Faith that every good Catholic needs to know by heart. Memory is the foundation of wisdom. It makes holiness easier. To grow wiser in the Faith . . . and holier . . . turn to Memorize the Faith! today.
Book Details
Title:Memorize the Faith! (and Most Anything Else): Using the Methods of the Great Catholic Medieval Memory Masters
Author: Kevin Vost
Category: Nonfiction
Length: 250 pages
Format: Trade Paperback
Release Date: 2006
Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
ISBN: 1933184175 / 978-1933184173
My Rating: 4 Stars
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I just read a review of Moonwalking with Einstein before reading this – and both books sound interesting. If I were only to read one, which would you recommend?
Depends on why you’re reading them. If you’re wanting to learn the memorization techniques, Memorize the Faith is the much better choice. If you’re wanting to learn about the broader world of memory studies and memory competitions & the people who enter them, then Moonwalking with Einstein.
Hmm, probably the techniques more than the background info. Thanks… on
the list it goes!
Memorize the Faith is also quicker, especially if you do like I did and end up skimming past some of the examples to get an idea of the technique, without trying to actually learn them.
But if your library doesn’t carry it, the Foer book does have some info on the technique, it’s just buried a bit more among other details.
Well, since I did just reading Moonwalking with Einstein, this sounds fascinating! I guess since we have similar reading tastes and strategies, we’ll end up having overlapping books.
Have you read His Word in My Heart (by Janet Pope)? It may have some of what you’re after for Scripture memory. (Though, at the same time, probably not methods you’re already familiar with–but it is inspiring for memorizing more Scripture.)
I have His Word in My Heart on my bookshelf – it keeps getting pushed aside for library books. I think I may need to pick it as one of my first books in my TBR reading challenge.
Thanks for the reminder about it – I’d forgotten I had it! (how sad is that??)
Oops–I meant to say that it mostly has “methods you ARE probably already familiar with.”